"An honour to be on the podium with them" - Mathieu van der Poel pays tribute to Filippo Ganna & Tadej Pogacar after winning the greatest Milano-Sanremo of all time

For the third straight year, Alpecin-Deceuninck have triumphed at Milano-Sanremo. Mathieu van der Poel's 2025 success however, is likely to go down in history as the greatest victory in the history of the Italian Monument.

On a day packed with drama, Van der Poel proved to be more than a match for everything thrown at him by world champion Tadej Pogacar. Despite the Slovenian's repeated assaults on the Cipressa and the Poggio, Van der Poel was glued to his rival's back wheel. In the final sprint though, the pair were joined by the incredible Filippo Ganna who put in arguably a career best display. There was no stopping Van der Poel though as the Dutchman led from the front and powered towards the winning line first.

"It's hard to believe," he reflected afterwards. "I was very focused on winning here, but we knew Tadej would be very strong. I felt very good towards the end. The beginning had been terrible with the rain and the cold. I just felt myself getting better and better. A third win in a row with the team. Unique."

"I knew Tadej was the strongest on the climb. On the Cipressa he was impressive. Then the cooperation with the three was good. On the Poggio, Tadej wanted to drop me, but I still felt good. I even hoped to counter, but he was also good enough to bring me back," Van der Poel continues. "I knew the other two wanted to make it a long sprint and they thought I wanted to make it a short sprint, but I surprised them a bit. When I saw the 300-meter sign, I went all out. I felt I still had enough in my legs. It turned out to be the right tactic."

And so, it is yet another Monument win to add to the palmares of Van der Poel. "Winning Milano-Sanremo is special anyway, but it's an honour to be on the podium with them. They are two great riders," the Dutchman concluded, full of warmth for his two rivals.